Search for

Technology Q&A

HCL TECHNOLOGIESTECHNOLOGY Q&A

Technology Q&A

Browse through the Technology Question and Answer (Q&A) section to explore various technology terms and definitions. Learn more about important industry related terms from research papers, whitepapers, case studies and brochures by HCL Technologies. Some of the terms have related case studies and blogs, to give you a 360 degree view of HCL expertise.

Application Development and Management

Application Programming Interface

What is API Integration?

An application programming interface (API) is a messenger that processes requests and ensures seamless functioning of enterprise systems. API enables interaction between data, applications, and devices. It delivers data and facilitates connectivity between devices and programs.

System Integration

What is system integration? What are the services offered?

System Integration is the process of integrating all the physical and virtual components of an organisation’s system. The physical components consist of the various machine systems, computer hardware, inventory, etc. The virtual components consists of data stored in databases, software and applications.

Mainframe Application Systems

What is Mainframe Application Systems?

Mainframe systems definition: Mainframe Application Systems are the various end-user application systems that are hosted on mainframe computers. Mainframe computers and their services are critical for governments and large organizations owing to their capability of processing bulk data more efficiently as well as data security features.

Application Integration

What is application integration?

The intra-enterprise level sharing of data and processes among applications comprises of application integration. Within an enterprise tool/system, applications must be integrated in terms of shared data and processes for the smooth and efficient functioning of the enterprise tools.

Enterprise Application Integration

What is enterprise application integration?

Enterprise Application Integration is the process of integrating Enterprise Applications using IT enabled systems. Enterprise Applications are crucial to the operations of various modern organisations and hence their integration is even more crucial to streamline all activities and ensure smooth functioning of enterprise level activities.

Application Development Framework

What is application development framework?

Oracle Application Development framework with much of its functionality contained in a few libraries. Business components are created and added according to business requirements and change the functionality of specific business components.

Legacy Modernization

What is legacy modernization?

Legacy Modernization is the continued process of transforming Legacy Systems in order to reduce IT environment complexity and costs, increase data consistency, enable collaboration across platforms and improve process flexibility.

Automation and AI

Artificial Intelligence

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming the way businesses operate. It is a combination of cutting-edge technologies that enables machines to think, comprehend, and execute tasks hitherto carried out by humans. AI can be considered as an intelligent robot which possesses the cognitive characteristics of a human being.

Advantages of AI

What are the advantages of Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing the boundaries of machine-enabled functionalities. This bleeding-edge technology facilitates machines to act with a degree of autonomy, resulting in effective execution of iterative tasks.

Automation

What is Automation?

Automation, as the term suggests, is the automatic execution of tasks without periodic interference. It aims to minimize and gradually do away with human intervention. A software that operates on its own and an electronic device that functions autonomously are examples of automation.

Service Automation

What is service automation?

Service automation is the process of integrating all domain and functionality tools into various automation layers in order to have unified interface for all workflows. It is the process of automating events, processes, tasks and business functions.

Business Services

Business Transformation

What is business transformation?

Business Transformation is the process of transforming the business process of an organisation to cope with changing needs of markets. Organisations undergo business transformations in order to cope with changing needs of their product markets.

Business Process Services

What is business process services?

Business Process Services are services outsourced to Organisations that specialize in taking up outsourcing activities. Specific business processes that are not the core competencies of an organisation can be outsourced to companies specialising in taking up those activities.

BPM Technology

KPO

What is KPO?

Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) is the process of outsourcing knowledge intensive activities that are data driven and encompass the process of gathering, managing, analysing and delivering objective insights into businesses.

BPO Solutions

What are the Business Process Outsourcing (Bpo) Solutions ?

BPO Solutions are an enterprise suite of solutions spanning functional areas such as finance and accounting, HR operations, Supply Chain operations, etc. along with scalable data centers and IT solutions offered by a service provider to various organisations.

BPO

What is Business Process Outsourcing ?

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the process of a service provider managing various aspects of business activities: the people associated with the business process, the associated and underlying technologies and the IT support staff for an organization.

Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO)

What is Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO)?

Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) is a sustainable and competitive method to manage costs and allow a company’s core resources to focus on strategic initiatives rather than managing transactional activities in HR operations.

Business Software

Laboratory Information Management System

What is Lims Software?

Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) software supports the functioning of a fully-fledged modern laboratory using Information Management System and a virtual software based laboratory system. The various aspects of laboratory informatics are managed through ERP tools and various data analytics tools.

Cash Management

Cash Management vs Wealth Management

How is cash management different than wealth management?

The financial industry sees a quantum of activities that are far-reaching and overlapping in nature. Management, quite understandably, plays a big part in the smooth functioning of the industry. The 2008 global economic meltdown brought about a change in perspectives and practices.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

What is PaaS?

Platform as a service is the latest buzzword in the contemporary milieu, but how does one define it? In simple terms, Platform as a service (PaaS) is a Cloud computing service model comprising the following:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

What is IaaS?

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is one of the major components of cloud computing. It offers managed infrastructure, including storage, network, and servers, to support non-production as well as production applications environments.

Cloud Computing Business

How Does Cloud Computing Help Businesses?

Cloud computing essentially means that enterprise data is stored on the cloud and accessed online instead of doing it in-house. With the advent of cloud computing, users are no longer required to invest in software development and application maintenance.

Cloud Computing Work

How Does Cloud Computing Work?

Cloud computing is an application-based software infrastructure that stores data on remote serves, which can be accessed through the internet. To understand how cloud computing works, it can be divided into front-end and backend.

Cloud Computing

What Is Cloud Computing?

The delivery of computing services (servers, storage, databases, networking, software, and analytics) over the cloud is termed as cloud computing. This replaces the traditional practice of using local servers or personal computers. Today, these services are enabled by cloud providers, who typically charge in accordance with service availed.

Cloud Adoption

What is cloud adoption?

Cloud Adoption is a strategic move by organisations of reducing cost, mitigating risk and achieving scalability of data base capabilities. Cloud adoption may be up to various degrees in an organisation, depending on the depth of adoption.

Cloud Architecture

What is cloud computing technology architecture ?

Cloud Architecture refers to the various components in terms of databases, software capabilities, applications, etc. engineered to leverage the power of cloud resources to solve business problems. Cloud architecture defines the components as well as the relationships between them.

Importance of CyberSecurity

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

How are business continuity and disaster recovery connected?

Disaster recovery focuses on the formulation of a strategy that allows a company to take certain measures during the time of a disaster. It enables companies to confront or protect themselves from the situations that can cause damage to the business in a number of ways.

Business Continuity Planning

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

Business continuity planning is the formulation of a strategy that ensures safety and continuation of business activities post a tragedy or a disaster caused by theft, fire, cyber-attacks, and natural disasters, among others.

Identity and Access Management

What is identity access management?

Identity and access management is the process of managing/regulating the access rights and entry permissions into a premise or resource repository or virtual space on the basis of identity mapping and verification.

Digitalization in IT Industry

Digital Analytics

What is Digital Analytics?

Digital analytics is the process of analyzing digital data from various sources like websites, mobile applications, among others. It provides a clear vision to the organization on how users or customers are behaving.

Digitalization

What is digitalization?

Digitalization is the conversion of analog information into texts, photographs, and voices, among others. The transformation is carried out through electronic devices such as scanners or specialized computer chips. Information is organized into bits which can be separately categorized into bytes.

Digitalization in Business

How does digitalization help businesses?

Digitalization implies an enhancement of business activities with the support of information technology to simplify communication systems. It helps firms identify best partner companies and collaborate with them.

Design Thinking

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a process of problem solving that approaches complex scenarios with a creative mindset. The key to the success of this methodology is its focus on the needs of the business. Solutions perfectly in sync with business objectives can help achieve extraordinary results.

Customer Engagement

What is Customer Engagement?

The objective of any organization is to attract and retain customers, and customer engagement is the process of building loyalty. A significant aspect of any business, customer engagement is pivotal for success.

Digital Transformation

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is a process of forming strategies and planning for organizational changes. It begins with empowering the employees with new tools and methodologies to create data-driven strategies and innovation.

Marketing Automation

What is Marketing Automation?

Marketing revolves around the concept of driving visitors and converting them into leads. Marketing automation is a software platform that helps automate marketing and sales engagement, generate more leads, close deals, and measure marketing success.

User Experience Design

What is user experience design?

It is the process of enhancing user experiences by refining the features of a product or an interface to evoke a positive response. A user experience designer must take every stage of the product lifecycle into account. This helps architect compelling experiences that engage and captivate customers.

Engineering and R&D

Embedded Devices

What is Embedded Systems Software?

Embedded systems software can be defined as specialized programming tools in embedded devices that facilitate the functioning of the machines. The software manages various hardware devices and systems.

Systems Engineering

What is Systems Engineering?

Systems engineering is an organized methodology of approaching designs and technical operations for smooth functioning and retirement of a system. The emphasis is strongly on software, hardware, documents, and people. The idea is for systems engineering to be a holistic process that integrates various disciplines for seamless operation.

Product Lifecycle Management

What is PLM?

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a system of information management, designed to integrate human resources, data, processes, and business systems. Through PLM, companies have complete access to information for their products and supply chain enterprise.

Enterprise Applications

Enterprise App

PLM in SAP

What is plm in sap?

Product Lifecycle Management in SAP helps organisations quickly develop and deliver the products that drive their business. SAP PLM provides all round support for all product related processes from beginning of life cycle with product ideation to manufacturing and service.

SAP MII

What is sap mii?

SAP Manufacturing Integration Intelligence helps link manufacturing processes with business operations to enable collaborative manufacturing. SAP MII helps organisations operating in the field of manufacturing to optimise their processes by connecting their shop floor with ERP processes.

Oracle Transportation Management

What is oracle transportation management?

Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) is a tool for shippers and logistic providers that provides transportation planning and execution capabilities and integrates transportation planning, execution, freight payment and business process automation on a single application across all modes of transportations i.e.

Oracle Demantra

Oracle OEM

What is oracle oem?

Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) is a web-based thin client tool that helps in managing and controlling various hardware and software tools of an organisation from a strategic level. Much of the activities in OEM are automated with built in intelligence programmed into the system.

Insurance Claims Management

How can technology assist and streamline the insurance claims management process?

Let’s look at Hollywood’s take on artificial intelligence (AI). The depictions include the intelligent robots produced to assist humans in I, Robot; C-3PO in Star Wars; and the sentient computer HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Digitalization of Wealth Management

Why wealth management can't afford to miss the digital wave?

A tectonic shift in wealth is sweeping throughout the world. Wealth is changing hands, migrating from the West to the East, from established economies to emerging ones, and from clients who reminisce about the pre-digital age to those who appreciate the rise of new-age technologies.

Robo Advisors in Financial Services

AI and Cognitive Computing Transforming Financial Services

How AI & cognitive computing are transforming financial services?

According to 70% of financial services executives, artificial intelligence in finance and cognitive computing will notably transform their organizational structures by 2020. Adoption of artificial intelligence in finance is not to replace workers, but to help them perform their jobs better.

Hi-Tech and Telecom

Big Data Analytics

Big Data Analytics Impact on Telecom Industry

The rapid rise in the use of smartphones and other connected mobile devices has triggered a spurt in the volume of data flowing through the networks of telecom operators. It is necessary that the operators process, store, and extract insights from the available data.

CDR

Leased Lines & Broadband

What are leased lines and broadband?

A leased line is a dedicated service contract between a telecom service provider and a customer that provides for fixed bandwidth as well as fixed upload and download speeds. In case of leased lines, each individual customer receives a fixed bandwidth irrespective of other customers.

Internet of things

IoT Platforms

What are IoT Platforms?

Internet of Things (IoT) strives to connect devices remotely for seamless functioning and ease of operations. An IoT platform bridges the gap between device sensors and data network. It provides an insight into the data used in backend application.

Internet of Things (IoT)

What is Internet of Things (IoT)?

Internet of Things (IoT), as the name suggests, enables connectivity across devices. The device could be smartphone, washing machine, television, microwave, or coffee maker, among others. They are either connected to each other or to the internet. IoT is a giant network connecting almost everything.

IoT Business Models

What are IoT business models?

The synergy of virtual and physical worlds has resulted in the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT). In the near future, things as varied as warehouses, restaurant kitchens, and bicycles, among others, will be connected to the internet and to each other, making everything more convenient for humans.

Smart Grid Consultants

What are smart grid consultants?

Smart Grid consultants provide consulting services to power service providers to manage power distribution and smart grids with continued focus on reducing cost and ensuring reliability. With digitisation of the entire power management process, smart grid consultants help manage both the supply side as well as the delivery side of the grids.

IT Infrastructure

IT Service Desk

What is it service desk?

IT Service desk of any organisation is the point of contact between the IT department and the users of IT services. The users may be employees of the same organisation that are dependent on the IT department for their work or may be outside customers, who pay for the services of the IT department.

Green Data Center

What is green data center?

Green Data Centers’ definition can be elaborated as data repositories for systems designed for maximizing energy efficiency and minimizing environmental impact. Green data centers used advanced technologies for data storage, management, and operations on the data.

Managed Print Services

What is managed print services?

Managed Print Services are a means of reducing cost and improving productivity for an organisation by outsourcing the entire portfolio of print related activities. The entire process of designing, optimizing and printing works are outsourced to an external service provider, which has expertise and experience in handling similar services.

IT Infrastructure

What is IT Infrastructure?

Information Technology Infrastructure is the combination of all hardware, software, networks, applications and database of an organisation that supports and maintains the IT services of an organisation.

Helpdesk Support

What is helpdesk support?

Helpdesk support is the process of providing information and support relating to company information as well as information regarding the products and services of the organisation to the end users/customers.

Data Center Virtualization

What are data center virtualization services?

Data Center Virtualization Services are a means of optimizing data storage space and reducing digital footprint by storing data at locations, geographically separated from applications. Data can be accessed, analysed and modified, without knowing the physical storage location or other parameters of the data.

Medical Writing

What is Medical Writing?

Changing market dynamics, expiring patents, and depleted product pipelines are all exerting pressure on pharmaceutical companies to outsource non-core activities in an effort to control costs and enhance drug-development cycle time.

Healthcare Consulting

What is Healthcare Consulting?

The healthcare industry is ripe for a revolution. Organizations in the industry around the globe are preparing for the next generation of healthcare services: a consumer-centric, prevention-focused system that cares for patients.

Clinical Analytics

What is clinical analytics?

Clinical analytics has emerged as a significant area of focus for IT leaders among healthcare providers, who are moving toward adopting accountable care. Many of the leaders have said that they are prioritizing clinical analytics over other systems in their organizations.

Clinical Data Management

What is clinical data management?

The accumulating, documenting and storing data, critical for clinical trials or other clinical procedures, critical to pharmaceutical manufacturers and Bio Tech companies is called Clinical Data Management.

Media Publishing and Entertainment

Adaptive Learning Systems

What are the adaptive learning systems?

Adaptive Learning System is a tool for transforming the learning system from a passive reception of information by the receiver to an interactive process by collaborating in the education process. Adaptive Learning System is used in education as well as in business training.

Enterprise Asset Management

What is enterprise asset management?

Enterprise Asset management is the process of managing all the physical and intangible/service assets of an organisation across departments, business units, locations and facilities. Effective Enterprise Asset management helps an organisation to reduce Capital Expenditure and Operating Expenditure related to assets.

Organizational Change Management

What is organizational change management?

Organisational Change management is the process of managing any change in organisational structure, culture or business process. With the ever changing business environment, customer expectations and volatile nature of marketplace, change is imperative in business process to cope up.

Manufacturing Execution System

What is manufacturing execution systems?

Manufacturing Execution System (MES) are IT enabled systems that provide solutions for improving and optimizing the manufacturing process to the production floor engineers and managers. MES provides solution as to how the current conditions of the shop floor be altered to generate greater output at minimal cost.

UI Developer Role

What is ui developer role?

The role of a User Interface (UI) developer is to provide the user interface solution to the end user, including the final look, feel and behaviour of the interface in different contexts. They role of a UI Developer is the transformational combination of the roles of both the Web Designer and the Web Developer.

Do-178b

What is do-178b?

DO-178B is a software produced by Radio Technical Commission of Aeronautics Inc. (RTCA), used for guidance related to Equipment certification and software consideration in airborne systems. It is a corporate standard, acknowledged worldwide for regulating safety in the integration of aircraft systems software.

Retail

Multichannel Retailing

What is multichannel retailing?

Multichannel Retailing is the process of using multiple channels for selling similar products across different platforms. The platforms may be online and offline and the various channels may be brick and mortar store, online store, mobile store, mobile app store, etc.

Supply Chain Management

SCM Strategy

What is Supply Chain Management Strategy?

Supply chain management (SCM) involves the movement of products and services from suppliers to distributors. SCM involves the flow of information and products between and among supply chain stages to maximize profitability.

SCM in SAP

What is scm in sap?

SAP SCM is a tool provided by SAP AG for managing the supply chain process of an organisation. SCM helps in planning, networking and execution of all supply chain related activities of an organisation.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

What is sap supply chain management?

Supply Chain Management is the process of managing and streamlining the entire flow of materials and activities for an organisation, from the supplier side to the customer side. The entire value chain of the organisation is dependent on the supply and movement of output intensive materials and the efficiency of activities that enable the same.

Testing

Mainframe Testing

What is Mainframe Testing?

Mainframe Testing is the testing of software services and applications based on Mainframe Systems. Mainframe testing plays an active role in application development and is instrumental in overall development cost and quality. Mainframe testing is a part of end-to-end test coverage spanning platforms.

Mainframe Technology Testing

What is Mainframe Technology Testing?

Mainframe Technology Testing is the process of ensuring quality business applications by testing mainframe applications with a testing framework. Mainframe applications usually control critical business flows and their architectures and product suites are entirely different from the distributed environment.

TCOE

What is tcoe?

Testing Center of Excellence (TCOE) is a model for centralized testing platform that provides for standardizing test processes and optimal utilization of resources for test purposes. It brings the infrastructure and resources together for achieving excellence in testing functions.

Pairwise Testing

What is pairwise testing?

Pairwise testing, also known as all-pairs testing is the method of finding defects by using a combinational method of two test cases. It relies on the observation that most defects are caused by interaction of at most two factors.